The Stages of Downfall of Napoleon

The following are the stages of Napoleon's downfall. Actually, this can be considered as the causes of his downfall.

1. Failure of the Continental System

2. Spanish Ulcer 1808-14

3. Russian Debacle- 1812

4. The Battle of the Nations 1813

5. The Battle of Waterloo June 18, 1815.

Solution Preview

The Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 taught Napoleon a valuable lesson that if his empire wants to survive, he should destroy the British navy. Bearing this in mind, he created the Continental System to improve the economy of Europe. The important aim of the Continental System was to cripple British economy and empower manufacturing and industries in France. The Continental System came into effect with Napoleon's Berlin Decree in 1806. Hereafter, British ships were not allowed to land in the ports of Europe. Some European nations like Russia, Austria, and Prussia who had envious towards Britain, agreed in line with the Continental System. However, Britain acted intelligently by transporting goods in neutral ships. When Napoleon issued the Milan Decree in 1807, against neutral ships smuggling goods, Britain adopted more severe measures. Throughout this economic war, Royal Navy had dominance over the high seas. When the European nations declared an embargo against Britain, she decided to Block all European ships passing through British Ocean. In the meantime, the French was struggling to transport goods and raw materials through land. All this time, British kept excellent trade relations with South America. Internal tariff walls in Europe were also a reason ...

Solution Summary

The solution describes different stages of Napoleonic downfall from 1805 to 1815. In this long period, Napoleon committed many blunders which led to his downfall. Some of them are Continental system, Spanish Ulcer, Russian invasion etc. It is no doubt that British Royal Navy played a great part in the defeat of Napoleon. Napoleonic era came to end with the Battle of Waterloo on June 18, 1815